Filing Taxes – With US Income

Most people with earned income in the United States pay taxes on each pay-check they receive, F-1 students included. International students have to file a tax return if they earn money. Taxable income can include everything from salaries to specific scholarships, gifts and awards. Those taxes go to the federal government’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as well as the department of revenue for the state where you earned your money. 

Here is a short summary of how the US tax system works:

• If you earn money in the United States, you must pay a certain percentage of that money in taxes.
• You pay taxes to the federal government, and you pay taxes to the state government in the state in which you reside. Tax returns detailing your income are usually due in April each year.
• After you file your tax returns, the revenue departments at each level reconcile the amount of income taxes you owe against the amount you have already paid throughout the year. 
• If you have paid more taxes than you owe, you are eligible for a refund. If you have paid less money in taxes than you owe, you are responsible to pay the difference. 

Income can come in many forms, including:

• Wages and compensation
• Salaries
• Tips
• Interest
• Dividends
• Some scholarships/fellowship grants
• Prizes/awards

A citizen of another country only has to pay US taxes on income from sources within the United States. To determine where you made your income and if you are subject to US taxes, it’s important to consider the same factors determining the source of income that the US government uses to ensure compliance. For the most part, however, the important things to remember deal with location: 

• Where did you perform the services for which you were paid? 
• Where is your residence?
• Where is the address of the payer of a scholarship, grant, or fellowship? 

Students who hold employment or internships through Curricular Practical Training (CPT) or Optional Practical Training (OPT) most likely also fill out a W-4, especially if they are also getting paid. A W-4 is the tax form new employees fill out when they are first hired at a company, non-profit organization, government agency, or other institution in the United States. This form signifies that you have started earning US income. If you did not fill out one of these forms, be sure to check with your employer to see why.

All U.S.-sourced income or treaty exemption payments must be reported on the annual federal and state tax returns. You must report all income exempt from tax under a treaty (regardless of amount). If you omit income on your return, you will have to amend the return, a complicated process, and you may owe tax back.

Any income received while living or working in Indiana is filed on an Indiana tax return.  Any other income received while living or working in any other state is filed with that other state. 

If you prepare and file your taxes yourself, it is free.

You will probably need to file BOTH a federal tax return and a state tax return. If you are a non-resident alien, Purdue has two separate systems for these returns- For federal taxes, it is Glacier Tax Prep and for Indiana state taxes, it is a Purdue State Tax Prep Module.

You should start off by watching these student videos from Purdue on how to file a tax return.

If you don’t feel comfortable filing your return yourself, several services at Purdue will help you complete it. See detailed information and FAQs from Purdue’s Payroll and Tax Services here. 

The Purdue VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program has some very helpful information regarding tax returns, which can be found here. 

If you want to use the free United Way of Greater Lafayette VITA’s assistance in filing, you need to schedule a drop-off tax return preparation service with them at https://uwlafayette.org/1040nrtaxhelp/. (Limited Availability)

Alternatively. pay a tax professional to prepare and assemble your return, usually around $200 – $250, depending on the complexity of your tax returns (federal and states).

You will need an Individual Taxable Identification Number (ITIN) or a Social Security number. Non-residents receive a specific Social Security number and card that comes with the following restriction: “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION.”

W-2 form: Your employer or whomever you collect an income from, will mail you a W-2 form, which documents your earned income from the perspective of the person or entity paying you. Note: depending on the type of employment, you may receive a 1099 for contract work or a 1042-S for income that falls under tax treaty benefits. IF you worked for Purdue and you presented your valid SSN before 5 Jan, and were an active employee, you may retrieve your Purdue-issued W-2 at https://my.adp.com. If you had a job at another employer, you need to request the W-2 from that employer.

Before you file your taxes, you will also need to fill out a 1040-NR, If you received income from Purdue, business, or individual. This form details to the IRS exactly how much you owe and how much you should be refunded or credited. This is detailed out in sections later on in this post.

Here is a list of other forms you may need if they are applicable to you:

• 1042-S: If you are a student (on a scholarship which exceeded your tuition fees) or have received income while you are exempted as a result of a tax treaty, you will receive a 1042-S from Purdue and must file with your taxes.
• W-7: If you need an ITIN or need to extend or renew your ITIN, you will need to file a Form W-7 application for IRS individual taxpayer identification number.
• W8-BEN: You will fill this form out if subject to tax treaty benefits. Generally, you will give this form to your employer on or around when you start your job and turn in your W-4 or 1099. 
• Form 8233: Do you qualify for tax treaty benefits and plan to claim them? You may need a Form 8233, exemption from withholding compensation for independent (and specific dependent) personal services of a non-resident alien individual.
• 1099-B, 1099-DIV or other 109: Any stock sales, dividends, or other payments from a broker issued by 15 February by your broker online or mailed to you.
• 1099-INT– Interest from bank accounts: 1099-INT, issued by 15 Feb, by the payer, online or mailed to you. Interest from a U.S. bank is not required to be reported on the 1040NR.
• 1099-MISC– Payments over $600 to resident aliens for prizes, awards etc. Will be emailed by 31 Jan by payer.

If you were paid by Purdue University, you will receive an informational message from Purdue University’s Payroll & Tax Services regarding accessing GLACIER TAX PREP through your GLACIER account. GLACIER TAX PREP assists non-resident aliens with completing their necessary Internal Revenue forms. 

Glacier is used for the following:
• Determines the tax residency of every international payee,
• Treaty eligibility (and forms 8233, W-9, and W8-BEN)
• 1042-S form distribution (not all international persons will have a 1042-S form)
• Federal W-4 form creation and/or completion for employees.

Log into your GLACIER account at www.online-tax.net. You will receive an email when it is available in your Glacier account IF you were a nonresident alien in the prior calendar year. The 1040NR return and Form 8843 will populate at the end of your GTP entries. If you don’t remember your log in credentials, please click the “Forgot Login?” button.

If you were not paid by Purdue University and don’t already have a GLACIER account, but you need to file a tax return and/or complete the form 8843, Purdue’s non-resident students at the West Lafayette campus will have access to the tax software program, GLACIER TAX PREP. This program can provide step-by-step assistance with federal income tax form preparation for non-resident aliens. 

Click here for instructions to access Glacier Tax Prep

If you have any difficulties using the GLACIER TAX PREP program, please use the HELP Link from within GTP. There will also be LIVE GTP Tax Information sessions and many GTP Q&A Zoom sessions  – keep an eye out for these to be announced and join. 

If you have problems logging into the myISS portal or don’t see a link to Glacier Tax Prep in myISS, please contact ISS.  Students should submit the ASC (Ask Student Counselor) e-form in the myISS portal.  Scholars may email iss@purdue.edu.  telling them exactly what the problem is in detail.

The U.S. tax system is a calendar year reporting – income received from January 1 through December 31. Tax returns are due every April 15 for the previous calendar year.

Do not rush to file your annual tax return; file the correct tax return the first time. It’s recommended you wait until February 15th to start preparing your tax return to make sure you have all necessary forms to actually prepare your returns. Forms W-2 and 1099 are required to be mailed by January 31. However, Form 1042-S provided by Purdue University will not be available until approximately February 15 (if applicable).

You will obtain all forms for your past year’s income, then file your tax returns.  Even if you are not in the United States, you must still prepare and mail 2023 U.S. and state tax returns.

You can still file a tax return beyond the April 15th deadline and you should do so as soon as possible. Please be aware that you may be subject to additional fees for late filing or be charged interest on late payments for any taxes owed that are past due.

Non-resident Aliens DO NOT file a tax return on TurboTax or any electronically filed software that does not screen for citizenship or tax residence; these programs do not support the non-resident return. 

The steps to preparing a return are:

1. Prepare your federal tax return (Form 1040NR AND Form 8843) in the Purdue Glacier Tax Prep System
2. Prepare your state tax return(s) (Form IT-40PNR in Indiana)- The Indiana income tax return, also required to be mailed in, can be completed with help from the Daniels School of Business guidance module, or visit https://www.in.gov/dor/ for tax forms and instructions.
3. Sign your federal and state tax returns and mail them to the correct locations.

The detailed instructions from Purdue VITA for the three steps above are available here.

Send your tax returns to the address printed on the GTP or state form instructions.  DO NOT send your tax returns to Purdue, as they cannot forward your returns to the IRS or state on your behalf (or return them to you).

Regardless of which means you choose, the non-resident return must be printed, signed and dated, then assembled to be mailed, according to the printed instructions, with W-2, 1042-S, etc., copies attached to the signed forms. You can’t submit the return electronically for a non-resident.

Once you mail your tax return, you will not get a confirmation of receipt for the return. After 120-160 days, you may check the status of your return at irs.gov, “Where’s My refund?”  NOTE:  Any refund may take six months or more to process.

If you moved after filing your tax returns, complete and mail a Change of Address Form 8822 to the IRS. The form with instructions is found at irs.gov. Some tax returns result in a tax refund, but some may have a tax balance due.  A refund indicates overpaid federal (or state) income tax withholding for your year’s taxable income.

The address on the 1042-S, W-2 or any other form is not a critical field to correct as that was the address on file, current at that time.  Purdue will not issue a corrected form, so you do not need to request a corrected form.  Please list your CURRENT address on your US and state tax returns that you are preparing. This is the address the IRS and state look at for your “official address” for your return, NOT any address on a form.

Can international students get tax refunded to them in the United States? Yes, and one reason may be a tax treaty rule between your home country and the US. There are very specific rules governing tax treaties between the US and other countries. Make sure you understand the laws governing your situation if you plan to file for reduced or refunded taxes based on a treaty. 

Here is a list of high-level requirements for pursuing tax treaty benefits. Remember, your country of origin must share tax treaty status with the US for you to qualify, even if you meet the following requirements:

• You earned money while working 
• You are a non-resident alien for taxes 
• You have a valid F, J, or H-1B visa

The following countries share tax treaties with the United States: 

• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Chile
• China
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Egypt
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Korea
• Kyrgyzstan
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Mexico
• Moldova
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russia
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Tajikistan
• Thailand
• Trinidad
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
• United Kingdom
• United States Model
• Uzbekistan
• Venezuela

If you are eligible for tax reduction, credit, or exemption under tax treaty regulations, you are required to fill out a Form W8-BEN, Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals) to your employer. 

• If you are an F1 Visa holder, and a non-resident alien according to your completed Purdue Glacier account (at the end of the calendar year), your pay may not be subject to the required Payroll (6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare) FICA taxes.
• As an F1 employee, with the minimum amount of credit hours in a semester (4 graduate or 6 undergraduate credit hours in a semester), there are no Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld OR if you are a non-resident alien according to your completed Purdue Glacier account.
• Send an email to tax@purdue.edu with your name and PUID so they can review it.

If you made mistakes on a previously submitted tax return, such as filing as a resident when you were a non-resident, you will need to file an amended tax return to correct the information. Please take advice from VITA before you do. You may also wish to seek the guidance of a tax professional for more complicated tax-filing scenarios.